Nomophobia

Do you suffer from nomophobia?
I guess I do.

So, what is nomophobia?

Nomophobia is the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. The term, an abbreviation for "no-mobile-phone phobia", was coined during a study by the UK Post Office who commissioned YouGov, a UK-based research organisation to look at anxieties suffered by mobile phone users. The study found that nearly 53 percent of mobile phone users in Britain tend to be anxious when they "lose their mobile phone, run out of battery or credit, or have no network coverage". The study found that about 58 percent of men and 48 percent of women suffer from the phobia, and an additional 9 percent feel stressed when their mobile phones are off. The study sampled 2,163 people. Fifty-five percent of those surveyed cited keeping in touch with friends or family as the main reason that they got anxious when they could not use their mobile phones. The study compared stress levels induced by the average case of nomophobia to be on-par with those of "wedding day jitters" and trips to the dentists. Ten percent of those questioned said they needed to be contactable at all times because of work. It is, however, arguable that the word 'phobia' is misused and that in the majority of cases it is only a normal anxiety.
More than one in two nomophobes never switch off their mobile phones. The study and subsequent coverage of the phobia resulted in two editorial columns authored by those who minimize their mobile phone use or choose not to own one at all, treating the condition with light undertones or outright disbelief and amusement.

From wikipedia

What is the origin of the name ''bluetooth''?

The name Bluetooth is derived from the cognomen of a 10th century king, Harald Bluetooth King of Denmark and Norway from 935 and 936 respectively, to 940. He is known for his unification of previously warring tribes from Denmark (including Scania, present-day Sweden, where the Bluetooth technology was invented) and Norway. Bluetooth likewise was intended to unify different technologies like computers and mobile phones.

Source: http://askville.amazon.com/Bluetooth-technology-called/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=478302

Miss Universe

For the ones who didn't see it on TV, you can check it out on the internet, on the Miss Universe official website. Just go to http://www.missuniverse.com/.

Enjoy!

The pronunciation of the -ed in regular verbs in the past

The -ed ending in regular verbs has 3 possible pronunciations: /Id/, /t/, or /d/.

When the last sound of the verb is /t/ or /d/, the -ed ending is pronounced as /Id/, as in hated /reited/, and needed /níded/.

When the last sound of the verb is unvoiced, when you don't need to use your vocal chords to produce it, the -ed ending is pronounced as /t/, as in finished /finisht/, and worked /uorkt/.

When the last sound of the verb is voiced, when you have to use your vocal chords to produce it, the -ed ending is pronounced as /d/, as in cleaned /clínd/, and played /pleid/.

If you'd like to check some more things about this topic, you can take a look at http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1413_gramchallenge26/

Enjoy!

Fiat Cinquecento ad

I just thought it was funny, so here it is.